


oreos and emotions

by WiseBlondeHunter



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Love Confessions, Multi, Sibling Bonding, Stranger Things 2 Spoilers, nancy is a cool big sister after everything went down tbh, nancy is also an emotional eater
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 14:37:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12559588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WiseBlondeHunter/pseuds/WiseBlondeHunter
Summary: It had been a long time since Nancy had eaten junk food with reckless abandon but here she was. She didn’t exactly know why she gravitated towards snacks when she was upset. Maybe it was just so she focused on something other than her whirlwind thoughts.A light knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. “Come in.” Mike cracked open the door and peered inside. A half-empty box of PopTarts was by her head and a few empty bags of frosted animal crackers littered the area around her crossed legs.“Why are you upset?”“Teenage stuff. Why are you upset?”





	oreos and emotions

**Author's Note:**

> this came to me because i just ate half a container of oreos and i finished stranger things 2 last night and i am EMOTIONAL. i just love jonathan and nancy so much and nancy and mike need to grow as siblings.

It had been a long time since Nancy had eaten junk food with reckless abandon but here she was. She didn’t exactly know why she gravitated towards snacks when she was upset. Maybe it was just so she focused on something other than her whirlwind thoughts.

 

_ “I can’t believe you’re being so stupid about this!” _

_ “It’s just high school! They’ll be gone next year anyways.” _

_ “So you’re just gonna let them push you around? It’s… it’s-” _

_ “What is it? Pathetic? Something only a loser would do?” _

 

Nancy sighed deeply. She wanted so badly to reach over and pick up the phone and call him. To staunch that feeling she picked up a cookie and bit it in half.

A light knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. “Come in.” Mike cracked open the door and peered inside. Over the past few months they had gotten closer but they were still a far cry away from being friends. Mike inched forwards, examining his sister’s surroundings.

A half-empty box of PopTarts was by her head and a few empty bags of frosted animal crackers littered the area around her crossed legs. His eyes flicked towards the plastic bag on her pillow that contained more junk food.

“Why are you upset?” he asked. Nancy sighed again and shook her head.

“Teenage stuff. Why are you upset?” she asked. He shrugged and looked down, shifting back on forth on the balls of his feet. The crinkle of plastic was the only sound in the room. She held the package of Oreos out to him.

Something in her chest settled slightly when Mike climbed up onto the bed next to her, crossing his legs and grabbing an Oreo. With every disaster came the paralyzing fear that she would lose not only her own life but her brother’s too. Because after all even though he was a little shit who stole her money and threatened to rat her out every chance he got, he was always her baby brother. Just sitting near him was slowly becoming comforting rather than annoying.

“Is it Eleven again?” Mike nodded. Those poor kids had grown so attached to each other. Of course that just might be the trauma but Mike had always had a heart too big for his chest.

Nancy thought back on the time that he had run into her room soaking wet with something bundled up in his jacket. She yelled at him for getting her carpet all wet but all he did was show her the terrified kitten he’d rescued. With a roll of her eyes she agreed to help him keep it a secret from Mom and Dad and a month later they gave it to Dustin. Mike had been at age where it was still okay to cry and boy, did he cry when they gave that kitten away.

Now all Mike did was sniffle a little bit as he twisted his Oreo apart. “She’s coming back eventually,” Nancy said softly. He nodded, his hair hanging in front of his eyes. “She just has to stay away until it's safe.”

“But when is that going to be?” he asked, almost shouting, black crumbs flying from his mouth.

“Hopper said about a year. And it’s already been almost four months. She’s coming back to you.” That seemed to calm him a bit. Mike thought that she didn’t know that he would hide in the fort in the basement every night and try to reach her. The first time that she’d heard him talking was day 156 and she’d burst into tears and run upstairs.

“Are you upset about Steve?” Mike asked. Nancy shook her head. Too much time had passed for her to feel too bad about Steve. Of course she lamented the life she used to have and, in her mind at the time, the life she was  _ supposed  _ to have. A life where Barb was still alive and she was hanging off of Steve’s arm and she was just Nancy.

However she wouldn’t trade the life she had now for anything. Barb might be gone but she had Mike and his friends, she had Jonathan, she still had Steve just in a different way now. She wasn’t just Nancy anymore. She was Nancy, the monster hunter, the fighter, the lover. She was so much more.

“Are you upset with Jonathan?” There it was. Was she upset with him? Yes, but also no. She was… frustrated. In Nancy’s mind, Jonathan deserved the world. He deserved to go to NYU and become a famous photographer. He deserved to have a family that would be whole and stable. He deserved better than he was settling for.

“There are these kids at school who just… they’re brutal to him. They write shit on his locker and they shove him around and they’re just…”

“Mouth breathers?” Mike asked. Nancy chuckled and nodded.

“Yeah, they’re mouth breathers. But Jonathan just takes it and he doesn’t do anything about it and I’m just…” The Oreo Nancy was holding broke in half. She quickly shoved it in her mouth to avoid spilling anything on her blanket.

“Wait, you’re mad at him for something someone else is doing?” Mike asked. Nancy huffed and sat up, her head spinning from laying down for so long.

“No, I’m not mad at him. I just want him to stand up for himself and realize that he shouldn’t get treated like garbage all the time.” Mike shrugged and twisted apart another Oreo.

“You don’t treat him like garbage. Neither does Will or his mom.” Nancy rolled her eyes.

“Anyways… I talked to him about it and we got mad at each other. Now we’re not talking.”

“You mean you’re not talking to him?” Mike asked, raising an eyebrow. Nancy narrowed her eyes. Damn that kid for being so smart. Okay, so maybe Nancy didn’t want to talk to him just yet because then she’d bring up the topic again while Jonathan would just ignore it; he was conflict avoidant and Nancy practically went out looking for fights. And then if they started talking about it again she would see that look of hurt on his face and know that it was brought on by her and she just couldn’t do it.

“I think you should just apologize.”

“Mike-”

“Nancy, you’re being a bitch about it. Just call him and say you’re sorry. You both love each other way too much to fight over something like this.” She watched as Mike stuffed another cookie in his mouth.

“If someone was bullying Eleven would you let that happen?” Mike shrugged one shoulder as he chewed.

“She’d just use her powers. She’s way more of a badass than I am.”

“You need to stop cussing.”

“And you need to pull your head out of your ass.” Nancy chuckled and put her head in her hands. This kid…

She reached towards the Oreo package to find there were only two left. She pulled them both out and handed one to her brother. “Thanks for the advice,” Nancy said with a small smile, holding her Oreo up. Mike held his up as well and they gently clinked their cookies together. Nancy shoved hers in her mouth whole, causing Mike to erupt into giggles. Her cheeks bulged as she chewed but she laughed too and sprayed Mike with crumbs.

Their laughter was cut off by the sound of the doorbell ringing. Mike jumped off the bed and grabbed Nancy’s wrist, dragging her along. He let his friends in but instead of heading down to the basement they went into the kitchen.

Nancy helped them make some snacks and followed them downstairs. “Wanna join our campaign? We’re starting a new one!” Dustin asked eagerly.

“What the hell. Sure.” The boys all cheered and pulled up a chair for her. They helped lead her through the steps of making her character and told her what to do when she got confused. The longer she played, the more she understood why Eleven loved these little idiots so much.

When Jonathan came down to the basement to pick Will up, he found Nancy and Lucas yelling at Dustin to make a decision because they were holding up the game and the band of orcs was drawing closer. He leaned up against the wall and watched before Will finally noticed him.

“Aw, come on! Ten more minutes?”

“Mom will kill both of us if I bring you home late, you know that,” Jonathan said with a smile. Nancy’s heart skipped a beat. He smiled so much more now and it made Nancy’s heart hurt with how happy she was for him.

With a heavy sigh, Will got up from the table. All of his friends gave him a hug and started packing everything up as he walked upstairs. Jonathan gave Nancy a small, timid grin before following his brother. Even though they were technically fighting, Nancy still had the urge to run upstairs and tackle him in a hug.

She never was that good at impulse control after all.

Her feet thundered on the steps and she ran out the front door after them. “Jonathan!” she called. He stopped and turned, probably expecting her to bring it all up again. Nancy stopped in front of him before realizing that she had absolutely no plan for what she wanted to say. “I… I’m sorry,” she said. “I should’ve just let it drop. I just hate seeing you get treated like this.”

Jonathan started to apologize to her but she quickly cut him off. He was completely in the right. Nancy recalled her brother’s words and said, “I love you way too much to blame you for something that’s not your fault.” She got no response. It took her a second to realize what had just come out of her mouth.

_ I love you. _

Neither of them had ever said it; they always felt it. But saying it out loud made it real and it was kind of throwing Nancy for a loop and oh god Jonathan was just standing there and he wasn’t saying anything should she not have said oh my god please say something. Nancy hesitantly kept her eyes on his face. His expression went from shocked to incredulous. Then he gave her that little half smile she knew was only for her.

He kissed her or she kissed him but it didn’t matter because Nancy got lost in it as she always did. “I love you. I love you,” Jonathan mumbled in between kisses, over and over as though he would never get tired of it. Nancy didn’t think she would ever get tired of it either.

“Hey!” They snapped out of their little bubble to turn to look at Will. He had already clambered into the car and was leaning out the window. “I thought Mom would kill us if we were late!” Jonathan’s chuckle was breathy as he turned back to Nancy.

“I should go. I love you,” he said as though he didn’t expect her to say it back.

“I love you too.” They kissed one last time before Jonathan jogged to his car. Nancy stood rooted to the spot as they drove away. The smile on her face felt impossibly wide and goofy to boot but she didn’t care. She was just replaying the past few moments in her head again and again.

When she finally turned back to the house, she saw Max, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin all on the porch. They scrambled to look casual but only succeeded in making Nancy roll her eyes. “C’mon, guys. Ghostbusters is on tonight and it’s not gonna watch itself,” she called. The kids immediately ran back inside to get more snacks together.

So maybe this wasn’t the plan Nancy had originally had for her life but as she sat on the couch sandwiched in between her brother and Dustin she knew that her life now was worth everything it had taken to get there.


End file.
